82 



THE LIVING CYCADS 



their leaflets for some time. The leaflets then fall off, 

 and the naked leaf stalks become more and more reflexed, 

 and finally they decay, and their bases form the char- 

 acteristic armor. Most of these features may be seen 

 in Fig. I, which shows a crown of vigorous leaves rising 



Fig. 28. — Dioon edule: seedling about twelve years old, grown in 

 greenhouse: the straight, erect young leaves of a new crown are shown 

 in the center; next are the leaves of the preceding crown, rising obliquely; 

 below these are three leaves of a still earlier crown, now beginning to 

 droop. 



obliquely, a crown of two years before, with leaves 

 beginning to droop, and some leaf stalks of a still earlier 

 crown, from which nearly all the leaflets have fallen. 

 In Encephalartos Friderici Guilielmi the leaf stalks hang 

 on for several years after the leaflets have fallen (Fig. 18). 



